The Il-18I, like the Il-18D, featured the AI-20M turboprop engines of 4,250 horsepower. The Il-18LL became a flying laboratory used to test deicing equipment. The Il-18RT were a pair of Il-18V models outfitted with Telemetry Relay equipment for various trials. The Il-18S was used as a VIP platform and based on the Il-18B product. Il-18A, B- and V-models made up various transport forms under the collective Il-18T designation. The Il-18TD was a military-minded transport proposal which was not adopted by Soviet forces. A one-off Il-18 existed as the Il-18USh based on the Il-18V and used in navigator training but not adopted in useful numbers by the Soviet Air Force.
Il-18V became the major variant fielded by carrier Aeroflot. it was powered by AI-20K series turboprops and could seat up to 100 passengers. Service entry came in 1961. The Il-18V "Salon" was its VIP form.
Il-20M "Coot-A" was the NATO-recognized platform used by the Soviet Air Force for ELINT and reconnaissance sorties. It was also recognized as the Il-18D-36 "Bizon". The Il-20RT was a communications relay platform and the Il-22 "Coot-B" an airborne command post. New mission equipment greeted the Il-22M design. An Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) model was the Il-38 "May" based on the Il-18 series. The Il-118 existed only as a proposed, upgraded Il-18 offering to be outfitted with 2 x Lotarev D-236-T propfan engines. as its propulsion scheme.
There proved little groundbreaking design features in the Il-18 which more than likely made it a sound aircraft from the get-go. Its monoplane wing assemblies were straight with clipped tips and each held a pair of engines along their leading edges. The mainplanes, and the tailplanes, were all low-mounted along the tubular fuselage sides. A single vertical tailfin adorned the extreme aft section of the aircraft. The cockpit was held at front, over the nose, in the usual way and a wholly-retractable tricycle undercarriage featured for ground running. Circular windows dotted the sides of the fuselage as did entry/exit and emergency doors.
Operators of the Il-18 line were largely those countries aligned with Moscow during the Cold War (1947-1991). This included Afghanistan, China, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Egypt , Poland, Ukraine and others - its reach was very global and its time in service proving the product to be very reliable and robust, hence its impressive production totals and myriad of operators.
Today (2016), North Korea remains the lone notable operator of the type through its Koryo Airlines brand. NPP MIR (ChK Leninets) of Russia operates just one example.
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